New Owner PIP Questions

The factory supplied charge cable is 110V only. It can be modified for dual 110/220V use by a aftermarket company for around $400. You would still need a dedicated 220v to charge from. Local California residents could better answer your other questions. Congratulations on your Prius Plug In.

 

Yes, for California rebate $1500 dollars you can initiate the process online here scroll down and select your vehicle then you have to fill up application by hand and send it in via mail and supporting documents ( lease contract, finance contract, temp registration,) you can apply for this immediately. For the hov stickers you have to have a permanent license plate issued to your car. after you have recieved the plates fill and send this application make sure to fill it correctly they will point out every mistake. any other questions about the hov decals can be answered here. For the tax rebate please look here
In the colder months I get a estimate of 10.5-11 miles ev
In the warmer months i got up to 14.6 ev miles
Eco mode just softens the throttle response. Which does increase you mpg but it all of it depends on a very good driver mod.
I drive in eco as much as I can handle it. I drive a 200 mile trip daily and charge before leaving in the middle when i stop for lunch and when i get home. i get a nice average of 89 mpg. I am able to squeeze around 950-1050 miles per tank ( I'm sure people have gotten more) and It all depends on the terrain your driving style and how often you charge.
Here is the link to upgrade your charger to universal 110 and 220v usually we have electric dryers we car plug into check here
This website comes in very handy when looking for stations they also have a iphone app.
And welcome to the Plug In community

 

I think the price is substantially lower according to evse upgrade the only company who i know does it. Its around $250

 

I just got a new 2014 base PIP 3 weeks ago. So far, I have about 650 miles on the car and the tank registers 3/10-- estimated range of about 770 miles. Also averaging 92mpg (39% EV, 61% HV) so far. This is beyond what I expected. I previously had a 2010 Prius and averaged about 50 with conservative driving. Was expecting about 60-70 with the PIP. My main commute is about 18 miles each way (about 75% freeway), and I can plug in at work. Uses pretty much all the EV range on each leg of the commute. Enjoy your new car, I know I'm very happy with mine so far!

 

You're right. The actual upgrade is $239.00, shipping and handling was $20, and I opted for the add on 120v adapter ($25) and the add on 240v pigtail cord ($20). My total cost was $304.

 

the only reason i havnt done this yet is because i cant afford not to charge for a week

 

Elsewhere on PC is a thread covering HOV stickers in which a member described how dealers can get the stickers in advance and put them on the car when you take delivery. Maybe check back with your dealer?
I have never used any mode except "ECO" so have no basis for comparison, but averaged 78.2 mpg overall for the first 20K miles. I usually get around 14 miles in town on EV on a charge, but part of that comes from regen. One of the most important things to consider is that "your mileage may vary." (YMMV)
I have never charged mine anywhere except at home, on regular household 110v. I usually charge only at night, using the timer set to have the car ready to go at 6am.
AFAIK, the only advantage to 220 charging is cutting the time to charge in half. That isn't important enough to me to justify the $$. Different strokes.............
Good luck, and welcome to PC.

 

To the Original Poster: do you rent or own? If you own, I suggest a (new or used) Leviton white 16-amp level 2 EVSE box. Our two (two houses - Virginia & Kentucky) have been foolproof even though one lives outside on the wall of th Virginia house for 20 months now.

I did go for the EVSEUpgrade L1/L2 conversion and to my chagrin I eventually had to re-convert and return the EVSE to Toyota. Its brick had filled with water. EVSEUpgrade assures me it's the only case they had like this, but of course it did me no good - I got a warranty new EVSE from Toyota but I'm out $239 plus some of the three-time round trip shipping costs between EVSEUpgrade and me. Now I am not quite trustful that the Toyota EVSE brick will stay water-tight if it's opened after the factory.

However, this forum allowed me to buy a used Leviton white 16-amp L2 bx from a member who was moving on. They are well-built and actually really simple to connect to a breaker box if your breaker box is in your garage. "Simple" as in owner-doable if you know your way about the basics of house wiring. They are also pretty easy to live with as they have a long, really heavy cord.

In the 16 months+ I've had the dual-capable upgraded EVSE, I never ever had a chance to charge at L2 rates away from my house.

..hence my question: do you own or rent? if you rent, get the EVSEUpgrade. If you own, get a 16 amp or a 30-amp permanent wall box with the upgraded gauge wires, for a solid future solution if you buy an EV car or a plug-in one with a much larger battery than a Prius. You can find the permanent wall boxes used now for about $400.

 

i think you don't even need the transponder. i drive in regularly for the past 3 months no problems

 

Where, can you point me to a website on this? I'm in So Cal and haven't been able to find any information on this. The 91 Fastrak website has a vague reference to Zero Emission Certified cars, but doesn't explain what this means.

 

I'm just saying from experience


iPhone ?

 

kenp11, since you own then I encourage you to think of the future in your calculations. The PiP charges at max 12 Amps on the Level 2 charger. There are many level 2 chargers and (AFAIK) they vary from a max charge strength of 16 Amps to 40 Amps. In the near future there will be more and more EV and PHEV cars, and almost certainly the car traction batteries will increase in capacity. The PiP has an internal charger that limits incoming voltage to 12 Amps, no matter what the Level 2 charging box on the wall can supply. The Pip also has one of the smallest traction batteries out there, in terms of capacity.

We now own two plug-in cars, the PiP and a Ford Fusion Energi. The Ford allows charging at 16 Amps and its battery is wayy bigger, and each charge results in 20 - 25 EV miles, season dependent. There are other plug-in cars out there right now which allow charging at even higher Amperage and have much larger traction batteries, i.e the Nissan Leaf and the Tesla. This all translates to: the bigger the traction battery, the higher the Amperage, the faster the recharge. With a bigger battery, that translates to time saved in a linear correspondence to the size of the battery.

If you (and your family) like the PiP experience enough to someday buy an additional PHEV or pure EV car, or if you are likely to live in the house when you replace the PiP someday, then the higher the Amps supplied from the wall charging box you buy today, the more usable (the faster) it will charge your future additional or replacement car. And with every new car model and car generation, their traction batteries will most assuredly grow in their capacity. Additionally, with two+ plug-in cars, the less time each car hogs the charger plug, the less family friction etc.

So, IMHO it will pay to buy the Level 2 charging wall unit with the highest reasonable Amperage capacity you can afford. These wall units don't seem to wear out. You don't want to be in a position five+ years from now where the wall unit with Amperage adequate for a 2012 PiP with its relatively small traction battery capacity just pisses you off every day because it charges your 2018 (name the brand) PHEV or EV with a correspondingly larger battery at 2/3 or lower rate than that 2018 car can take - in other words, you are limited in weekend errand-running EV miles available because the wall unit can't recharge the car as fast as it could had it been chosen in 2014 with a higher Amperage capacity. Had they been available in 2012 when I bought the PiP, I would have bought the Leviton Level 2 40-Amp capacity wall unit just because of this. Matter of fact, I ran #6 gage wires from the circuit panel to the Leviton just to avoid someday re-doing my wiring if I ever do upgrade the wall box.

I hope this is helpful.

 

This was the smartest thing to do. Rather than purchase a higher capacity Level 2 charger for my PIP last year, I went with the Leviton 16a at a reasonable price. Requirements will change, technology will improve. and prices be lower. Chances are good I'm into EVs for the long haul. What ever the requirements are, I'll purchase what's state of the art for that vehicle at that time. Future proofing your wiring is smart business in the beginning.

 

Whether you choose to charge at L1 (120V) or L2 (208-240V) please ensure your wiring is up to snuff - your typical garage outlet installed when the house was built may not be. A lot of people decide to install a 240V circuit if they are going to have an electrician come out as it doesn't cost much more than a new 120V circuit, the 240V outlets are heavier duty, and L2 charging is 2x or faster.

A 16A L2 EVSE is all you need for the PiP, but if you are running a new circuit it may be wise to spec 50A (allowing a 40A EVSE in the future).